Drowning in my Feelings
by ElectroNerd
Summary: Roxas swims to make his parents happy. He works to make his teachers happy. It seems like such a pointless cycle; who will ever make him happy? Will he ever even be happy? AkuRoku fic. (Request by Black Night Shadow)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH. Heck, I don't even own the plot, this story was a request!**

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Chapter 1

I stood on the end of the diving board, looking into the water. I tensed. I took a half-step backwards, my fear of heights kicking in. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, a mantra of "I can do this" running through my head.

"C'mon Roxas!" I heard Demyx encourage from my left. I looked at him and he gave me a huge grin. "You can do it!"

I pouted. "Can't I do this later?" My gaze flickered back to the pool and I took another small step backwards. How could I say I was on the swim team when I couldn't even dive?

Riku spoke from his position against the wall. "When exactly is later?" He looked up at me, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Before I could answer, Demyx piped in and said, "Roxas, if we let you go now then you'll never get this dive down!"

I narrowed my eyes but said, "Fine, if I have to dive then can I _please_ go on a lower diving board?"

"That's the lowest there is." Riku monotoned. "You would have to be at the edge of the pool to go lower, and you can't dive from there."

Demyx and I were silent for a few moments. That's probably the longest sentence we've ever heard Riku say.

Finally, I took a deep breath and went to the edge of the diving board. I looked down into the water and thought, _It's ten feet deep, I won't even get near the bottom._

I was about to dive when someone tapped my shoulder, saying perkily, "Hey, Roxas!"

I jumped about ten feet into the air, and when I landed I lost me balance and fell off the diving board. Face-first. I did one flip in the air before colliding with the water, landing on my stomach. The painful sting of the seconds-before flat surface bloomed across my side as I went under. I snapped open my eyes to be surrounded by blue, the water rippling above me. I quickly gathered my senses and swam back to the top, gasping when I broke the surface.

I looked around to see Demyx and Riku soaked, and small waves gently sloshing over the edge of the pool, the excess water filtering into a drain. I looked up at the diving board I was standing on just seconds ago to see a sheepish-looking Sora, the ankles of his jeans drenched and dripping water into his shoes.

Riku made a noise and moved towards the towel rack while I swam towards the nearest pool ladder. I winced when my stomach muscles streched- belly-flopping into a pool is not good for swimming. Nonetheless, I made my way to a ladder and slowly started to climb it just as Sora began belting out apologies.

"Oh my god Rox, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen! I thought you had heard me walk in! I totally ruined that dive for you! I'm so-"

"It's okay," I said, waving it off. "That was nothing."

Demyx walked over to me and checked me for injuries. "I'm not so sure buddy, that was one intense belly-flop. Look, the side of your stomach is red." He poked me right there, and I hissed.

"Don't touch it!"

Demyx instantly backed off, hands held up in surrender. "Sorry."

I sighed and walked over to the towel rack, grabbed a fluffy white towel, and began to dry myself off. Riku draped his towel over his shoulders and looked at me sympathetically. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and began inspecting the side of my stomach that Demyx poked. He was right, it was red, but nothing a little aloe couldn't fix. I shrugged and rubbed the towel around in my hair, attempting to dry it.

Sora climbed down the diving board ladder and walked over to us, taking a towel of his own and sitting down to dry his pants. "Again Rox, I'm really sorry."

I rolled my eyes and grinned, taking my wet towel and dropping it on his head. He squeaked and instantly pulled it off, trying to fix the spikes in his brown hair. I laughed and said, pulling on one of the spikes, "Don't worry about it Sora, it was just an accident."

He pouted. "But you got hurt!"

I grinned. "Sor, all I would need is some aloe and then I would be fine!"

He returned his attention back to drying his pants. "Still."

I was about to respond when Demyx laughed and said, "Are you sure you guys aren't related? I mean, you guys just fit together like this!" He then crossed his fingers and held them up for us to see.

I grinned again and shook my head. "Nope, you're looking at two completely different bloodlines here."

Demyx had a thoughtful look on his face. "Are you positive? I mean, you guys were born on the same day, in the same year, even at the same hospital! You guys even look alike, not to metion you have the same blood types!"

Riku gave him a funny look. "How do you know what their blood types are?"

Demyx shrugged. "Blonde senses, I guess."

We all looked at him before a moment before Sora said, "Anyways, we couldn't be related, we were born in different hospital rooms at different times."

I nodded. "Like I was born on the first floor in room 11A, at 7:57 PM."

"And I was born on the third floor in room 57C, at 7:59 PM." Sora pointed out.

But this only got Demyx going. "There's no logic in that, there has to be some kind of correlation between you two! I mean, same hospital, same day, same year, same blood type, even the same hour! And both of the numbers on your hospital rooms are prime!"

Sora and I were silent. Demyx had the facts straight, even the prime part. I looked at Sora and he looked back at me. Maybe there is some kind of correlation... I was about to say something when Demyx gasped and fell over, holding a dripping wet towel in his hand. His face was shining with the newly placed water.

I heard a snicker coming from the side of the pool and I turned my head to see Riku holding in a fit of laughter. He must have snuck over to the edge of the pool and dipped the towel in when no one was looking. Or paying attention, for that matter. He's as stealthy as a ninja- one minute he could be at the edge of the pool, watching everyone, and then I'll blink and he would be gone to who-knows-where. He's as slippery as ever, and since he's so quiet, you wouldn't know he had left until he came back or you were keeping a close eye on him.

But Riku got uncomfortable when the attention was on him. So if you tried to focus on him he would disappear and we would all have to leave the room to get him to come out again.

So that's just him.

Demyx spluttered and threw the soaking towel back at Riku, who dodged it swiftly, watching it sink to the bottom of the pool and then going to get a net so he could get it without jumping in.

"Riku!" Demyx said, wiping his face, getting up, and storming over to said person. "Why'd you do that?!"

Riku pulled the net off the hook and said simply, "I was getting tired of you going on about Roxas and Sora being related." He walked past Demyx and to the end of the pool, dipping the net in and extending the neck so it would reach the bottom. "Plus, I thought you didn't mind water." He added on after a few seconds.

Demyx walked over to him and huffed, "I _don't _mind water, it's just when it comes in a surprise attack that I do mind it. And you could have just told me to shut up or something."

Riku paused and sent him a look that spoke for itself, saying, "I don't do things like that."

Demyx backed off a little bit as Riku returned to trying to get the towel.

Sora laughed a little from beside me and whispered in my ear, "You know they would probably make a good couple, Riku and Demyx."

I spluttered and began choking on imaginary food, shaking my head and coughing. "Where did you - cough - get that from?"

Sora shrugged and laughed. "Dunno. Kinda just came to me." He then poked me and gave me a goofy grin. "And I knew it would freak you out."

I gave him a half-hearted glare while I regained my composure. I looked over at Demyx and Riku and saw that they had ignored us. Thank god. I turned to Sora, giving him a look and saying, "Well, thanks for that spaz attack, now don't do it again."

He just laughed some more and said, "I'm not making any promises."

I sighed and shook my head, walking over to Demyx and Riku just as they were pulling the towel out of the water. Demyx handed it to Riku and he wrung it out, a steady flow of water streaming out of the towel and back into the pool. He then slung the towel over his shoulder and said, "It's getting late. We should get dressed and head home."

I nodded, looking at the clock on the wall. "Yeah, it's almost 6:30." I walked over to a small shelf and pulled my back off of it. While I was heading for the shower rooms, I turned around and half-waved at everyone. "I'm heading home after I take a quick shower, I've got a ton of homework to do."

Sora's shoulders sagged. "And that stupid project."

Demyx laughed. "Get over it Sora, we all know you hate projects but you still have to do 'em."

Sora frowned and began to rant. "But I just don't understand! What's the point of projects? It's just taking stuff we already know and cutting it up, gluing it on a poster, and making it look pretty. It's absolutely pointless, if you ask me."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Well Sora, I'm sorry that you feel that way, but that project is due in four days and you haven't even started it yet." Not waiting for a response, I quickly ran into the shower room, knowing he wouldn't chase me in here. Safe, for now. Hopefully he won't wait on me.

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**Okay, BNS, there's your story. Err, the first chapter. I just want to say... HA! I PUBLISHED IT FIRST! Anyways, anyone else reading this, because I just know I'll probably get nailed by BNS for such a short chapter, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING.**

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Chapter 2

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Gah!" I yelled as my reflexes threw me out of the bed, causing me to gracefully face-plant into the floor. I groaned and listened to the alarm clock blaring annoyingly above my head. I stayed still for a moment before getting up and turning off the alarm. I sighed. 5:25 AM. The start of a normal work day for me.

I trudged over to my closet and started shuffling through my clothes just as my bedroom door burst open.

"Wake up, hotshot, time for work!" I heard an obnoxious and loud voice say.

"Quit being so loud, Reno." I snapped, turning to glare at him.

He held up his hands in surrender. "C'mon Axe, you're never like this in the mornings, what happened?"

I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to my closet, picking out a pair of blue jeans with flames sewn on at the hems and a shirt that said _4 OUT OF 5 DOCTORS AGREE THAT THE OWNER OF THIS SHIRT IS BEYOND AWESOME._ I then picked out my favorite red sneakers and tossed everything onto the bed.

Reno sighed and walked up to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Axe, I know sometimes you're not a morning person, but this is one of those days that you have to buck up for. You're going to visit a high school swim team."

I sent him a funny look and waved his hand off my shoulder. "Reno, are you drunk or something?" I asked seriously.

He raised and eyebrow and smiled. "Nah, man! I was just trying to give you a heads up on the day!"

I gave him a look. "You never do that."

He shrugged and headed towards the door. "I'm just trying to be helpful, like an older brother should!"

He walked out of the room and I yelled after him, "It's about time you started acting like a brother instead of a friend who's moved in permanently!"

"I reject that!"

I laughed and changed my clothes. I'm going to which school again? Westmist? Northmill? Something like that. I shook my head and walked into the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth. I started packing up a bag for the day when my phone started ringing. I picked it up and said, "Axel Sinclair speaking! What do you need?"

I heard a chuckle from the other side of the line. **"It's Saix, I'm just calling to remind you that you're supposed to be here in a little over an hour."**

I winced and turned on my bluetooth. I stuffed some swim trunks and some swim shirts into my bag and asked, "An hour? Yeesh. And where exactly is 'here'...?"

I could imagine Saix shaking his head. **"It's Westbrook High. We went there when we were teens, remember?"**

Westbrook. I'll remember that. "Yeah! Um, we were the Westbrook... Stingrays?" I guessed, hoping I got it right.

**"Westbrook Sharks,"** He corrected. **"And since you **_**obviously**_** forgot, I'll give you directions."**

I laughed. "That's what swimming does to you. It washes out a lot of memories!" I joked, zipping up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.

Saix chuckled. **"So you don't remember that time we had to get dragged out of a bar in senior year?"**

I shuddered. "Geez, I don't _want _to remember that. I had a killer headache and was irritable, and you were all joker-ish. It was like we had switched brains or something!"

He laughed and said, **"I remember that part too. Our parents killed us! We used to make such stupid decisions when we were younger."**

"Used to?" I asked incredulously, walking out of my room, down the hallway, and into the kitchen. "I think we can still make some pretty stupid decisions, Saix."

**"Maybe you, but I've been on a steady track since that incident."**

I laced fake hurt through my voice. "Oh Saix, you wound me!"

He chuckled and said, **"Yeah well, speaking of tracks I better get you on the right one and give you these directions."**

"Okay." I replied, grabbing a sheet of paper and a half sharpened pencil. "I'm ready."

**"Alright,"** He started. **"The address is 1356 Westward Street, zip code 10596, in the city of Travrse Town."**

I winced again. "Ugh, Traverse Town? That's like, 45 minutes away from Twilight Town!"

**"In that case you better get going now, you have to be here at 6:45 and it's already 5:50."**

My eyes widened. "What?! I can't believe it's already that late! Crap, I'll have to stop by McDonald's or something for breakfast... Gotta go Saix, I don't have time to waste!"

Saix snickered and said, **"Just don't be late, hotshot. We have a whole team of highschoolers that are coming in from class 15 minutes after you're supposed to be here."**

"Yeah, thanks." I said my farewells and hung up, making a mad dash for the front door.

I had my hand on the knob when Reno stopped me. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

I turned around and asked, slightly irritated by the delay, "What?"

He handed me my house key, my car keys, and my phone. I could have sworn that was in my pocket! Stupid bluetooth. "You won't get far without these."

I sucked in a breath of relief, taking the items and stuffing them in my bag. Before I left, I put a hand on Reno's shoulder and said, "Thanks, bro. I don't know what I would do without you."

He laughed and turned me around. "Me neither! Now go, you have highschoolers waitin'!" With that he pushed me out of the door and closed it behind me.

I sighed and shook my head, smiling and making my way to my car. That Reno... I unlocked the door and hopped in, typing the address Saix gave me into my GPS. A 35 minute drive. I guess I'll get there early. With a grin to myself, I pulled out of the driveway and followed the directions that the GPS lady said.

~DIMF~

I pulled into the parking lot of Westbrook High, "home of the Westbrook Sharks" as the sign said. I checked the time and saw that it was 6:30 on the dot. "Yes." I muttered to myself, turning into the parking spot next to Saix's car. Unless he got a new car, that is.

I shut off the engine, grabbed my bag, and got out of the car, taking in the scenery of my old high school. Nothing had really changed. I think that's even the exact same flower tree that Saix and I engraved our names on. I sighed wistfully. Ah, those were the glory days. I locked the car door and walked up to the school entrance. I took a deep breath, walked in, and asked the woman at the front desk, "Excuse me, do you know where the indoor swimming building is?"

She looked up at me, her green eyes narrowing. "And just who are you?"

I ignored her harsh tone and said proudly, tapping my temple, "The name's Axel Sinclair. Got it memorized?"

Her eyes widened. "_The_ Axel Sinclair? Like, the Olympic swimmer?"

I grinned. "The one and only!"

She made a squealing noise and her whole demeanor changed. She twirled her short blonde hair around her finger and said, "Um, to get to the indoor swimming pool you take the first left on this hallway and it's right outside the double doors, you can't miss it."

I gave her a bright smile and said, "Thanks!" I followed her directions, and soon I was back in the old swim building.

"Ah, so many memories!" I said loudly as I entered.

Saix didn't miss a beat and walked up to me. "You're early. Wow."

I nodded and smiled. "Well, that what happens when I don't get lost!"

He smirked. "Did you have to ask for directions once you got here?"

I was silent before replying, "...Yes... That woman at the desk is really strange."

Saix shuddered. "Yeah. Larxene can be strange sometimes. I bet she started to freak out when she saw you...?"

I shrugged. "More or less, why?"

He laughed. "Dude, she's like, obsessed with you!"

I spluttered. "Wha-whaaaa?!"

He gently hit my back and said, "Yep. Well, it's almost 7, we should get ready."

"Um, yeah."

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**As much as I hate it, Larxene is in this story. Ugh. Anyways, I'll be switching POVs between each chap, so the next chap will be in Roxas' POV. So stay tuned! This is two updates in one day!**

**Oh wait! BNS, I found those notes you gave me about what you wanted in the story and uh, I totally didn't follow. So, I changed some little things to follow along with the notes but... Larxene is SO staying in the story. She's going to be so OOC, like an obsessive fangirl of Axel's.**

**Axel: What? Why me?!**

**Me: Because. Don't question my motives.**

**Axel: ...**

**Anyways, ahaha, the story will run on a _slightly_ different track than you wanted, but that's okay right?**

**It had better be.**

**So um, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH.**

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Chapter 3

I listened to the bell ring.

"It's time!" I heard Demyx tell Riku excitedly. I heard Riku mumble something in response.

I grinned and grabbed my bag. I couldn't wait, today we were going to meet an Olympic swimmer. Like, a real live_ Olympic swimmer_. This was going to be awesome. I looked over at Sora and waved, and he looked at me in dismay. "I wish I had joined the swim team!" He said, putting down his book and standing.

"I wish you had too, swimming is so much fun!" I replied, putting a hand on his shoulder and grinning.

He shook his head. "Nah, swimming is your thing, Roxas!"

I hesitated for half of a second before saying, "You would be awesome at it if you really tried."

He waved me off with a smile and sat back down just as the teacher dismissed us. I looked back at Demyx and Riku and nodded towards the door. They nodded back at me and we made our way into the hallway. Once we were outside and the classroom door was shut, Demyx fist-pumped and said loudly, "We're going to meet an Olympic swimmer! Not only that, but we don't have to go to class at all today!"

Riku cringed. "Don't be so loud, Demyx." His hands went up to rub his temples. "I already have a headache from you ranting about it all morning."

Demyx instantly quieted. "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Riku gave a small smile and, seemingly not wanting to douse Demyx's mood any further, said, "Well, I once heard that the swimmer we're meeting and Coach Saix went to school together here. And that they were both on the swim team."

"What?" Demyx and I both asked at the same time.

Riku nodded. "I never lie," He replied, answering our unsaid question.

"That's amazing," I gasped, getting lost in thought. "What if one of us has the same locker he did? That would be cool."

Demyx grinned and grabbed my wrist. "Don't go off and space out, we need to hustle if we want to get to the swim building on time!"

With that, he grabbed Riku's wrist, still holding mine, and began dragging us down the hall. I took a sideways glance at Riku, and he looked ready to wrench Demyx's hand away and take off. I always knew Riku was never the most social person, and I knew he wasn't too fond of being touched and all, but wow. I never knew how strong those feelings were.

Demyx must've somehow sensed my anxiety, or Riku's agitation, because he instantly let both of us go when we stood at the entrance to the swim building. He rubbed the back of his head and said sheepishly, "Sorry again, I'm just extremely excited right now. I feel like I could burst at any moment!"

Riku rubbed the wrist that was in Demyx's hand a few seconds ago and said, "That's fine."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I feel the same way! I've always wanted to meet an Olympic swimmer, and now that I finally have the chance... Words can't express how I'm feeling right now!"

I opened the door to the building and walked inside, followed closely by Riku and Demyx. We did the usual routine: put your stuff down, shower if you need to, change into swim trunks and shirt, get sprayed with cold water, and sit next to the pool to wait for further instruction. Since I was always a bit faster than everyone else on the team, I was the first to sit next to the pool. I dipped my feet into the water and was about to relax when a boisterous, "Hiya!" was thrown my way. Overly startled, my body threw itself forward and I fell into the pool.

I heard the splash, even though I was underwater. I instinctively swam back to the top of the pool and gagged on some water as I draped myself over the edge. I heard a groan come from above me and I looked up. The first thing I noticed was the hair. It was ridiculously red, and it made the owner look like a red version of Sonic the Hedgehog or something, it was just that spiky. I noticed the laid back outfit, a t-shirt that said "4 out of 5 doctors agree that the owner of this shirt is beyond awesome," some loose-fitting jeans that had flames sewn on, and red Converse. I looked up again and noticed the man had these wierd tattoos under his eyes. Small, purple triangles. Then I saw his eyes. They were almost unreal, they shone so bright, like an emerald glistening in the sunlight. The last thing I noticed was the fact that he was soaked.

I quickly got out of the pool, looking apologetically at the man. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get you wet!"

He grinned and chuckled. "Well, you scare easily... Anyways, it's my own fault I'm wet anyways, I'm the one who scared you. So I should be apologizing."

I just stared at him for a moment, and then I realized that I was looking _up_ and not _forward._ Instead of saying something smooth like I usually would have, I pouted and said, "...You're so much taller than me."

The man grinned again. "Nah man, I've only got about four and a half inches on you!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And that's not considered much taller than me?"

He laughed and held out his hand. "I guess it is. Anyways, I don't think I introduced myself properly." He then raised his other hand and tapped his temple. "The name's Axel Sinclair. Got it memorized?"

I smiled and took his hand, shaking it. "I'm Roxas Strife." I then tried to copy Axel's movement, tapping my temple. "Got it memorized...?" He smiled and I looked down. "Ugh, that was such a fail."

Axel grinned. "Don't worry Roxy, it just takes practice, that's all!"

I was about to agree with him when I realized what he had said. "Did you just call me Roxy?"

"Yep!"

"...Don't call me that." I said in all seriousness.

"Okay, Roxy!" He replied, grinning.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You did that on purpose!"

He was about to say something, probably some obnoxious comment or whatever, when I heard Demyx walk up to us and ask, "Oh, Roxas, who's this?"

I was about to introduce him when Axel went all... crazy... and said loudly, puffing his chest out and putting his hands on his hips, "I am the great Axel Sinclair, awesome god of swimming!" He then thought for a moment and added, "And um... being awesome!"

Demyx just looked at him and I facepalmed. It was then that I heard Riku say, "Sure. Awesome god of swimming and being awesome."

I looked up from my facepalm and saw Axel beaming. "In my awesomeness, I declare that I was just kidding. I'm only Axel Sinclair, the Olympic swimmer that you guys are supposed to be meeting today."

My eyes widened, along with Demyx's. Maybe even Riku was surprised by this, but he didn't show it. His face was almost always either expressionless or thoughtful. So the other day, when he actually almost laughed, I was so amazed I didn't even think about it until now. "What?" Demyx asked incredulously. "WHAT?! I just met an Olympic swimmer?! OH MY GOD!"

Demyx suddenly started running around in circles, of course around Riku, yelling something really fast that sounded kind of like, "OHMYGODIJUSTMETANOLYMPICSWIMMER!" or "WHYDIDN'TISAYSOMETHINGAWESOMEORSOMETHING!" Again, he's talking really fast so it all sounded like gibberish to me.

Poor old Riku was trapped in the middle, rubbing his temples with his eyes closed. I could tell he had a major headache- I would too. And it's not like he could just walk off; Demyx was running around him too fast for him to avoid a collision. Finally, Riku's patience snapped, and he waited half a second before grabbing Demyx's shoulder, stopping him. His eyes opened and then narrowed, and he just looked at Demyx for a moment before saying shortly, "Demyx. Shut. Up."

Demyx quickly nodded and took a step away from Riku, practically shaking. _Note to self: Never, ever, EVER, make Riku angry._ I'll probably never be more scared in my life again than I was right now. While we all waited for Riku to calm down, is was so silent that if someone even took a dropper and dropped one drop of water into the pool, we would all jump ten feet into the air. And I would fall in the pool, because that's been happening a lot lately. Geez.

So we were all silent for what seemed like forever before Riku had that 'Mr. Cool and Collected' air about him again. Axel, Demyx and I simultaneously took a deep breath and continued with introductions.

"Um, anyways," I started nervously, glancing warily back at Riku every now and then, "That's Demyx," I said, pointing at Demyx, "And that's Riku." I finished, pointing at Riku, who seemed fine now. Still a little on edge, but fine.

Demyx nodded, seemingly afraid to speak for fear of angering Riku again, and Riku nodded slightly at Axel as in acknowledgement.

I made a double mental note to self to not make Riku angry. Ever.

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**BNS YOU BETTER HAVE READ THIS CHAPTER! I was about ready to threaten! I dedicate a whole STORY (a request, to add to it!) to you and I don't get any feedback for 2 WHOLE DAYS?! What was going on over there?! I was totally like, I sent you a PM on FictionPress and here, and you said you would check it out, 2 DAYS AGO! I'm like, totally not happy with you right now.**

**Anyways, to the rest of you readers out there, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it really sucked. Like, seriously. It was horrible. I don't write well when I'm angry, obviously. *cough* BNS *cough* So yeah. Please review, and try to ignore the angry rant above.**


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